Rotary multicolor transfer printing machine



Aug. 25, 1953 M. RAS 2,649,734

ROTARY MULTICOLOR TRANSFER PRINTING MACHINE Filed Sept. 18, 1950 2sheets-sheet 1 INVENTORQ PAS; W

' ATI'ORWEX Aug. 25, 1953 M. RAS

ROTARY MULTIcoLoRTRANsFER PRINTING MACHINE Filed Sept. 18, 1950 2Sheets-Sheet 2 //V///VTOR MAXPAJ Patented Aug. 25, 1953 UNITED STATEROTARY MULTICOLO R TRANSFER PRINTING MACHINE Max Ras, Zurich,Switzerland Application September 18, 1950, Serial No. 185,385

- In Switzerland October 10,1949 I r 7 1 Claim.

My present invention. relates toa rotarymulticolor transfer printingmachine of a type difierent from the conventional constructions. It is aso-called in-line machine which is generally used in letterpressprinting thanks to being readily accessible, easily attended to andsupervised. For multicolor printing also, machines are known whichoperate according to the principle of the single stands which arearranged in line. In machines of this kind, the inker is situated abovethe plate cylinder and the dampener below the same, whilst thearrangement is reversed on the other half portion of the printing unit,i. e. the inker I is disposed below the plate cylinder and the dampenerabove the same. This arrangement has been adopted in order to obtain thebest possible accessibility for the inkers and dampeners and tofacilitate the insertion, removal, adjustment, rubberizing and washingof the plates. Such arrangement, however, has the disadvantage ofrendering difiicult the attendance of the transfer cylinders. Operationssuch as the replacement, bringing to register, and washing of the rubbercloths, then only can be performed from the side through openings in themachine frame. Such inconvenience is emphasized in the case of machinesinvolving wide paper webs, since the said operations can no longer beperformed from the service side of the machine solely. Due to therelatively great distance between dampener and inker, there is a dangerthat-in case of plates which require only very little dampeningthe smallamount of moisture will evaporate. The amount of moisture, therefore,has to be increased beyond what is required for the printing processproper; the water no longer adheres to the plate. Furthermore, theprocess of guiding the paper web through the machine becomessubstantially more complicated. Since the web has to be run above theinkers and dampeners, the web is unnecessarily lengthened, and itssupervision and draw-in becomes more difiicult. Covers or flashings haveto be provided to prevent, in case of rupture, the web and the paperdust adhering thereto from dropping into the inkers. A further drawbackis that a machine of the type referred to above, requires a multiple ofmovable machine parts such as gear wheels, shafts and the like,considering only the purely mechanical and operational aspects. Afurther construction, frequently used in the United States, also isbased on the principle of single stands, but differs from theconstruction indicated above in that the web is run underneath theprinting-apparatus and inking-appa- 2 w ratus. The operation ofdrawing-in the web and the supervision thereof is more diflicult yet,and the cover for the web has to be made more sturdy and better yet,since such cover in operation is used as foot bridge.

For the sake' of completeness, a construction yet is mentioned in whichall the printing units required for four-color printing are arrangedabout a large-diameter counter-pressure cylinder. In order tofacilitate, to some degree, the service of the individual printingunits, the counter-pressure cylinder must be made relatively very large,which in turn calls for a great overall height of the unit. The serviceof the machine thus is made more complicated, because two men will berequired therefor in four-color printing, namely one on the foot bridgefor attending the printing units disposed on top of the machine. Moretime is required for setting up the machine, since access to the inkersand dampeners, as well as to the impression and plate cylinders isrendered more difficult as a result of arranging the various printingunits around the large counter-pressure cylinder.

A further drawback is that working on the foot bridge is more tiresomethan working on the floor level.

The main object of the invention is to eliminate the above-mentioneddrawbacks of prior types of construction. In the printing machineaccording to my present invention, all the inkers and dampeners aresituated below the 1evel of the plate-cylinder center.

One form of invention is shown in the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. 1 shows an elevation,

Fig. 2 shows one of the printing units in vertical section and in alarger scale,

Fig. 3 shows a side view of Fig. 2 in section.

Fig. 4 is an end view of the first printing unit, the cover plates ofthe two gear boxes having been removed.

As indicated in Fig. 1, the paper web 2 runs from a roll I in successionthrough three printing units 3-5 and to the folding apparatus 6. Eachprinting unit comprises two plate cylinders 1, two transfer or offsetcylinders 8, and an impression cylinder 9. Inkers l0 and dampeners IIare disposed below the level of the platecylinder centers, the dampenersbeing diagrammatically indicated by nozzles through which water in formof mist is sprayed onto the plate cylinders I via cylinders II.

The cylinders and inkers are driven from a central gear box (not shown)via bevel wheels 3 l2, shafts l3 and bevel wheels [4. All theinkerdriving elements are disposed in the wall 20 which for this purposeis recessed at 20', and the said elements run in an oil bath.

The plate and the transfer cylinders are disposed at a suitable levelabove the floor and are accessible for service over their entire length.All the operations, such as changing the plates and rubber cloths,overlaying and bringing the plates to register, washing and rubberizing,may be done from the floor, and the operator does not have to crawl intothe machine. Another salient advantage of such arrangement is thepronounced clearness of the machine which also is evident from thevarious driving elements.

The paper guiding means which is disposed above the printing apparatus,is simple and clear and comprises a minimum of idling cylinders which,as known, have to be driven by thev paper web.

What I claim is:

In a rotary multicolor transfer printing machine including a pluralityof in-line printing units each comprising two plate cylinders, twotransfer cylinders, an impression cylinder, said plate and transfercylinders being disposed symmetrically with respect to a vertical planethrough the axis of the impression cylinder, a vertical main drivingshaft in said plane, two meshing bevel gears connected between saidshaft 4 and said impression cylinder respectively, inkers and dampenersdisposed below the level of the centers of said plate-cylinders, and adrive mechanism for said inkers including two meshing bevel wheels, oneof said wheels being connected to the lower end of said main drivingshaft, sprocket drive means connected to the other of said two bevel.wheels, and drive gears for each of said inkers and connected to, saidlatter two bevel wheels by said sprocket drive means.

MAX RAS.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 664,119 Bouvet et a1 Dec. 18, 1900 2,047,605 Wolf July 14,1936 2,053,958v Isbell Sept. 8, 1936 2,183,739 Crafts Dec. 19, 19392,297,005 Livingston Sept. 29, 1942 2,351,012 Carpenter June 13, 19442,447,887 Worthington Aug. 24, 1948 2,448,975 I-larrold et al. Sept. 8,1948 2,597,932 Huck et a1. May 27, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS Number CountryDate 318,809 Great Britain Sept. 12, 1929

